EVE New Citizens Q&A

Hi Guys,

I need your help. I just returned to EVE, figured I'd give it another go. But the thing I'm experiencing the same unpleasant things as the last time, only worse (insta pod locking on a gatecamp, wtf?).

Anyway, here are my current skills: http://eveboard.com/pilot/Roma_I . I'd like to enjoy the game solo and on occasion with a friend. Currently I'm enrolled in FW, but it's frustrating as hell because I can't find at least a 40/60 fight and a lot of roams I get killed in gatecamps...

What are my options in character development and gameplay adjustment so I can have more enjoyment with this game? What skills should I train for?

I figured I can rent an office in lowsec, train BS or BC and go "scouting" with it and maybe even have a chance to lock some foolish campers and kill them. From what I've seen so far, I should be able to tank most gatecamps at least before I jump back. Or am I wrong and I'm just looking to lose a hell of a lot more ISK this way? Or maybe when playing with my mate, one of us should jump and scout whats ahead? (this way only one of us might die)

Or maybe should I say **** it and join a big corp in null/wh?

My big no-no's are alts, gatecamping, blobbing, warping for hours in medium/big fleets while everyone else runs/comes with bigger fleet and make us run. Also I can't spend a lot of time playing, so I'd like to keep it as CASUAL as possible.

Considering all this, what skills should I go for and maybe any other tips? I still have faith that I can enjoy this great product as a game and not a hardcore hobby.

Thank you!

Very likely this.

Large ships are likely to get webbed down and murdered before they can get back to the gate. Normally your best bet for escaping camps is a fast-aligning frigate (or cloaky ship). Your average FW combat frigate can easily escape most gate camps, but the very dedicated ones will catch you (and these tend to sprout up in FW space, cause, easy targets!)

Gate camps are annoying, but they don't have to ruin your play. With time you'll get used to the usual locations and get to know some of the pilots responsible. Purely solo you'll still face check them fairly regularly I'm afraid. Map statistics don't help much as the whole FW zone is generally pretty saturated with kills and camps are fairly mobile.

The best solution is to join a corp and share intel with them. There are many corps in faction warfare space (some "neutral" pirate corps) that specialize in small gang and solo pvp (and many others in blob warfare). Try to find one of the former. This is a complex game which is pretty dull without player interaction and isn't meant to be played solo. That doesn't mean you can't fly solo - but take advantage of others' knowledge and experience. If you don't like alts, find other humans to play with. An active low-sec corp will generally have enough people in space to find and deal with things like gate camps without too much worry.

And if you lose a frigate to a camp now and then...Don't sweat it. Remember that you are out challenging yourself to become a better pilot and they are just looking for easy targets and tears. EVE is supposed to be hard. Flying solo just adds an extra layer to that challenge. It's often frustrating, but its worth losing 30 frigates for that one kill you manage on your own that makes people say "......what? "

Eve just isn't really a solo game. Having said that i know plenty of people that do find good solo fights. But expect to lose 5 ships to 1 at least to blobs, camps and other shenanigans. Also are you like me? True solo as in one account? Many "solo" people typically fly with 2 to 3 accounts. One scout, one links and the main ship.

My recommendation is to try things till you find something you like, or you realize eve is not your game. For pvp i would recommend the NPSI community (Spectre fleet for example), for small fights stuff a FW corp.